


Rains of Atonement

by sarai377



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Angst, M/M, Post-Grima, Resplendent Robin, Risen King Chrom (Fire Emblem), Sort-of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:20:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25456084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarai377/pseuds/sarai377
Summary: In which Resplendent Robin and Risen King Chrom find each other after being summoned to Askr.mChrobin, angst
Relationships: Chrom/My Unit | Reflet | Robin
Comments: 15
Kudos: 65





	Rains of Atonement

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short companion piece written for Citadelity (Kristin)'s recent angsty comic. Please check out her amazing, evocative artwork here: https://twitter.com/shounenpng/status/1286028846110736384?s=19

Robin has almost forgotten what rain feels like. 

When all the other heroes summoned to fight for Askr seek shelter from the downpour, Robin steps outside and turns his face to the sky. The cold droplets strike his closed eyes, his mouth, dribble down his chin and soak into the high collar at his throat. 

He is not expecting to find another soul out in the rain. He wants distance from them, is tired of pretending that everything is fine. Robin has gotten so good at it, at making the others think that he is just another Robin who happened to come from Hel, that he’s almost forgotten himself. 

But the rain brings it all back. 

The power searing his flesh, arcing from his hands, so bright that his eyes teared up as that power found an unwilling target. 

The sensation of strings tied around his body, of being little more than a puppet to the forces he barely understood. 

Blue eyes gone wide with pain, with shock, and then narrowed in understanding - compassion - undeserved. 

The ties that bind, even in death. 

Robin turns his face up and lets his tears mingle with the rain. 

His feet carry him on, through puddles and into the forest near their encampment. The trees protect him from the worst of the storm, but he wanders on, lost in the memories of another time, the life he’d loved and lost… the life he'd taken and given back, but twisted. 

It hurts, like a scab picked from a wound too soon, but Robin cannot stop prodding at it. 

As he comes to a clearing, he spots a lone figure, tall and desolate, standing in the middle. He’s drawn to this figure, even as fresh water spills down his cheeks. 

It is the hilt at his side, strangely caught in profile, that brings back an even earlier memory: one rusted from disuse, that creaks back to life unbidden. 

Another rain, not unlike this one. Sad, angry Shepherds all around him, long since stopped fighting, falling into grief at their failure. Robin’s failure, the loss of the bright star who had led the Ylisseans with peace and kindness, aching like a knife thrust between his ribs.

One lone figure raises his goddess-blessed sword to strike down yet another soldier who does not want to fight him. When none remain, he lowers his blood-stained sword and his head, letting everything slump with his grief-- 

Just like this. 

When Robin’s foot splashes in a puddle, Chrom raises his head. He does not speak. He’s been very quiet since being summoned. The Summoner believes this Chrom might be mute, unable to speak of any of the things that happened to him. 

Robin has seen him on the outskirts of their camp, a man apart. The other heroes all leave him space. 

Robin can see the invisible marks Grima’s claws left in him, and his own invisible wounds throb in sympathy. 

Chrom turns red eyes toward Robin, and they see him for a moment, then pass through. No emotion turns that once-expressive mouth, no pain or anger or fury narrows his eyes. But Robin knows that Chrom is in there. Maybe not _his_ Chrom, but a Chrom tormented by Grima all the same. 

Robin approaches, half-expecting Chrom to turn away, but he stays still. Does he see his former master in Robin’s approach? Finally, vague recognition crosses his features, more a mild curiosity than anything. How many ages was this Chrom trapped under Grima’s control, forced to kill and destroy and raze? 

Robin’s left ring-finger aches as it hasn’t in decades, longing for a simple piece of metal with the Ylissean crest upon it. He raises his hand to Chrom’s cheek. It is cold, made colder by the water trickling between the spines of his crown, through his hair. Robin can feel the chill of the grave through his glove. 

Some long-lost emotion moves across Chrom’s face, twitching his mouth and making his red eyes dim. It’s gone in the next, but as Robin caresses Chrom’s cheek, something passes between them. 

The link of kindred spirits, bound together, bound to the same miserable fate… but given the same second chance. There’s penance in it, penance and remorse - atonement. 

Chrom shifts closer, leans in and lowers his head. His cheek brushes against Robin’s forehead, the whisper of lips - there and back, as he used to long ago, the only intimacy Robin would allow on the battlefield. Whether muscle memory or true memory, it makes Robin shiver. 

“I’m glad I found you,” Robin says, his voice rough with emotion as Chrom takes his hand. 

“Yes,” Chrom finally says, his voice creaking with disuse, long and slow. The rain beats down on them, deadening the air around until the world is just the two of them and their shared memories from separate worlds. “Me… too, Robin.” 

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

In her sepulchre there by the sea—

In her tomb by the sounding sea.

_\- Annabel Lee_ , Edgar Allan Poe

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading! 
> 
> Yes, I'm sort of back... This year has destroyed my motivation to write anything, and my mental health has taken a nose dive. But I'm wrapping up an important draft of an original fiction novel, and once I'm done with that I'm taking a couple of months to get back into my fanfic, because I've missed it! 
> 
> If you read this, please let me know what you're excited for me to continue, as that might help me prioritize what I've got going on. Looking for something new/multi-chaptered from me? Or would you rather have me finish something older? Thank you so much for your support, if you've read this far! <3


End file.
